For Tuesday, October 24, please read this summary of Virgil's Aeneid. Then read as much as you can of Book I and Book II. Skimming through Book I is sufficient. Please read Book II with a bit more care.Cite a line or two from Book I or Book II that particularly well show Virgil's "insight into the human condition," i.e., that shows his understanding of subjects like fate, the relationships between men and women, relationships between men and gods, the impact of war, etc.
Book One line: My epic theme is war, and a man who, through fate, came as a refugee from Troy's coasts to Italy, and the shores of Lavinium.
ReplyDeleteI like this particular line from the book. I know it's the opener to book one but it is an opener that brings up fate and war. The man Aeneas was in a war that was lost in Troy. A war that led this man to change the history of the world. This war and losing the war was a fate that was brought onto this man to change the world. From Dido falling in love with Aeneas but then leaving because his past wife told him he was set out to go to a different land. The fate of the gods were either to stop Aeneas or help him form the eventual Roman people. So I really like the opener because it shows right of the bat that Virgil knew about the impact of war, fate, and relationships between men and women.
Book two line: "Your Majesty, the pain you tell me to revive is not something that can easily be spoken of - how the Danaans overthrew the wealth of Troy and its royal family for which we mourn, and things which I personally saw to my cost and of which I was a major part. Who in telling such a tale even if one of the Myrmidons or Dolopians or a soldier of steel-hearted Ulysses could keep himself from tears? Besides, the night's dew is already falling from the sky, and the setting stars urge sleep. But if such is your passion to learn of our misfortunes, and hear briefly of the final agony of Troy, although my mind shudders at the memory, and shies away from the grief, I shall begin.
Okay so this is a long line but I liked how Aeneas was telling the story of how Troy fell from a tall couch. They had story time in the past as well. This story telling I feel like is a relationship between men and women for he is telling his story to Dido the one who fell in love with him. He is telling the story as he saw it and in this story he tells it shows how fate and war had a huge impact on Aeneas and the life he led in changing history and making a story for himself. Through his story telling he asks himself loads of questions that involve his fate and asks why was Troy destroyed and why him to change history. Why did the gods ask him to do it. Virgil's story of Aeneas shows us how he used insight into the human condition. People asks themselves internal questions and we see how those questions Aeneas asked himself led to relationships between gods and women.
I chose a few lines from Book One:
ReplyDelete" She flung Jove's instant fire from the clouds and shattered their ships, with winds churning the seas, while she snatched him up in a whirlwind breathing out flames from where his chest had been blasted, and impaled him on a rock. Meanwhile I, who am titled queen of the gods, and am both Jove's sister and his wife, wage war with a single family for years on end."
In this line Juno mentions how Pallas had decimated a Greek fleet over the attempted rape of a Trojan princess. Juno feels like nobody shows her respect and finds it a mockery that she has spent so much time trying to deal with Aeneas and his family with no aid from other gods. The section discussing Juno and her attempt to destroy Aeneas' fleet helps provide insight into the relationships between men and gods in ancient Rome. Similar to Greek belief, the Romans seem to view their gods like a bunch of "superheroes" in that they are just people with magical powers that can abuse them at any point. The gods choose what they want to do, and the only thing keeping them in check is fate and the hierarchy among themselves. Juno struggles to kill Aeneas, and eventually Aeolus was accosted by Neptune for his work in trying to destroy Aeneas' fleet. The gods seem to only care for people who are noble and good or commit atrocities, and anyone who isn't punished or aided is unimportant. The Roman's relationship with their gods seems quite rocky, as the gods seem disinterested in aiding people unless it suits them at the time, otherwise they only tend to stay distant.
Line:
ReplyDelete"Jupiter Almighty, if any prayer can change your will, look down on us this once. We make one prayer only, and if our righteousness has earned some favour, give us now your presage, and confirm this sign."
In times of need and joy the Romans would look to their gods. So, at this point in book 2 in this huge time of need and on the edge of death a miracle occurred. They immediately thanked the gods, because of their righteousness. So, this brings insight on how we view religion and something grater. If you do what is needed of you then you will receive something from the gods which was a huge honor. Which was shown in the Roman values we look at, fides. So, no matter what they keep having faith in the gods.
"The first Greek to bump into us, with a full company of men, was Androgeos - casually assuming we were friendly troops. He actually shouted out a comradely greeting:
ReplyDelete'Get a move on, lads! Hurry up or it'll all be over : the acropolis is already burning and you've only just got here from your ships . The others are looting among the ruins.'
So he spoke, and at once he sensed from the lack of response that he'd fallen among the enemy. His voice dried, and he stepped backwards. Like a man who's not noticed a snake in the undergrowth, and as he puts his weight on it suddenly jumps back in panic as it rears up angrily showing its steel-grey head, so Androgeos tried to get away in cold fear at what he'd seen. We charged, and overwhelmed them with a rush of weapons - we massacred them, ignorant as they were of the terrain, and rigid with fright."
I think this passage shows Virgil's knowledge on the supposed friendly relationship between man and man and also the not-so-friendly relationship between the two. In this passage, a Greek man mistakenly assumes that Aeneas is one of his allies, and greets him in a friendly manner. Instead of greeting him in a similar way, Aeneas and his men slaughter the Greek man and his troops.
By writing this, Virgil recognizes that, even in times of war, men who are comrades will greet each other in a friendly manner without a second thought of betrayal. If they are not, however, comrades, then the men will fight each other to the death. It is quite interesting to notice the difference between the two relationships. If Aeneas was a Greek, then this interaction probably wouldn't have even made it into the book. But since the two men were on opposing sides, the interaction resulted in a pool of blood.
-Lauren Bland
The lines I chose were from Book II, which state "Was there anyone - man or god - that I did not curse in my impotent rage? There was nothing during the entire destruction of my city that I found harder to stomach." and "So saying, she left me. I was in tears, and still had much I wanted to say. ...Three times I tried to put my arms round her: three times as I unsuccessfully tried to hold her did her substance slip through my fingers, just like a soft breeze or an evanescent dream. And so - as night was ending - I returned to my friends."
ReplyDeleteThese lines really spoke to me because it shows emotional vulnerability in a place you would expect only physical vulnerability. It is expected of a battle-hardened man like Aneas to not be very concerned about anything other than the fight at hand, the glory to be won, or the deaths to avenge. While this is a common theme through all of Book II, these two lines show the side of Aneas that is more of a "human". He is worried for his wife and children, lost in anguish, regret, and grief over his first wife Creusa. Despite this, he knows he has a duty to return to his people, his friends. So, he does, because there is nothing else he can do. He perseveres because he has to, not necessarily because he wants to. He has a duty to his people and what's left of his family, so he goes on.
-Haylee Bohnet
The line I chose from Book ll was
ReplyDelete"And now the black day arrived. The sacrificial items were being prepared: the salted grain, and the head-band round my temples. I snatched myself away from death - I admit it - and broke free of my chains. I lay concealed all night in a muddy pool in the dark in the reeds, waiting until they sailed, if sail they were going to. I no longer held any hope of seeing my ancestral homeland, or darling children, or the father I'd missed for so long: probably the Greeks would demand them in punishment for my escape, and purge my guilt with their death, poor wretches.”
This was an interesting piece of ancient Roman history. When Romans or Greeks for that matter would go against their form of government through treason or even escape, typically the individual if caught would be severely punished to the point of death, as well as their family. Take North Korea as a modern-day example. North Koreans who flee the country and don’t return, their families are the ones that pay a price for it and are punished almost through a sense of guilt by association. These relationships between the individuals and the Gods at least in the Gods eyes, feel questioned, as they feel that they are going against them for whatever reason, particularly leaving and escaping. Sometimes individuals believe that escaping is their best option, when in reality it is for them, but none of their family. This situation involves an individual who knows escaping will surely result in death if he were to return, and he will never be able to see his family again, whether that’s because he’s never going back, or if their family is being severely punished. This was typical, and the Gods wanted this established so individuals knew that not counteract the Gods, and saying that the Gods are the ones that know best.
Nile Hesson
The line I chose from book two was:
ReplyDelete"Who could put into words the horror of that night and describe the pains of death, or could weep enough tears to match the agony? An ancient city, for centuries ruler of an empire, fell. Everywhere lay lifeless corpses - in the streets, in the houses, in the temples. And it was not only the Trojans who were paying the price with their blood; occasionally the defeated regained their courage, and it was the turn of the victorious Greeks to fall. Everywhere there was torment, everywhere panic and death in a myriad shapes."
I chose this line because Virgil does a wonderful job explaining how painful seeing death is for people, and also their fear of it too. Furthermore, this shows the impact war has on individuals. Virgil eloquently describes the pain that war causes, but also the fear that it causes as well, which is very important. I have been alive while there have been many wars in the world, and through the new, you can always see the terror and pain that those affected go through. People lose homes and family members, and it causes great pain for all affected. Virgil does a good job portraying that in the chosen line, causing a stir-up of emotion associated with that pain of loss.
The line I chose is from Book II: "Now I was buckling on my sword, slipping my left arm into the shield strap and adjusting my shield. But as I was on the point of leaving the house, there in the doorway was Creusa. She stopped me, clasping my feet and holding out our little son Iulus to his father.
ReplyDelete"If", she cried, "you go forth to die, take us also, quickly, to face with you whatever may happen. But if what you have seen of the fighting leads you to suppose that there is still any hope for us in resuming battle, your first care should be the defence of our home here. Otherwise, to whom will you leave our little Iulus, your father, and me, whom you once called your wife?"
-This line looks into the human condition in the way that it analyzes relationships to both people and a place that is a home. Virgil wants the reader to understand the thoughts of love and relations in what he is writing and that agony can sometimes accompany that.
Book I: "This man was battered helplessly both on land and at sea by the viciousness of the higher powers, thanks to the obdurate wrath of Juno the savage. Much, too, did he suffer through war, until he could establish a city, and bring his gods home to Latium."
ReplyDeleteHow I interpret this passage from book is I feel it really reflects that the human condition is not a good one. We as humans are going to be pushed and pulled around and we won't be able to stop it no matter how hard we try to. At the end of the passage that mentions the established city, I feel like from a Christian standpoint, it can be seen as a metaphor that all people are lost until they either bring God into their home or until they bring themselves into God's house (the church).
- Kristin Johnson
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